Old men my ass: in master boxing, fighters over 40 prove that punching power, discipline and passion are timeless. One man who has made a name for himself on the scene is world champion Ralf-Peter Frohn-Lux.
I actually got into it by chance,” says Ralf-Peter Frohn-Lux. Today, the master boxer from Pulheim is WBU (World Boxing Union) world champion, AMB (Association of Master Boxing) European heavyweight champion and has defeated international title holders from all over Europe. However, his journey began quite unspectacularly: “I had set up a company branch in Neu-Ulm for a friend in 2021, couldn’t find suitable accommodation and then just put a mattress in my office. I joined a gym so that I could take a shower and then started fitness boxing there.”
The first fight came as a surprise to Frohn-Lux, with little preparation and against a supposedly harmless opponent. “In the end, the guy had 51 fights and was 14 kilograms heavier,” laughs the 62-year-old about his first “unequal” master boxing match. “But that only motivated me even more.”
At your own expense
What began as an unusual adventure became a passion for Frohn-Lux. Today, he is a permanent fixture on the German and international scene. But master boxing is not about prize money. “I’ve never earned a euro from it – on the contrary. Las Vegas (where he fought in 2024; editor’s note) cost me almost 10,000 euros,” he says. The drive lies elsewhere: passion, fitness, resilience – and competition.
The question arises as to why someone over 40 would voluntarily enter a boxing ring. But the answer is as simple as it is honest. “I love the competition. I need that feeling of competing with others,” reveals Frohn-Lux during a visit to the BOXSPORT editorial office. The focus is not on the knockout, but …
Text by Robin Josten
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